1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a web-based or computer-implemented system for planning and managing events such as weddings, bar mitzvahs, parties, and any other events involving multiple service providers or vendors including, but not limited to, caterers, entertainers, limousine drivers, and so forth, by means of a single website or portal and forms or contracts that can be customized to meet the service offerings, policy requirements, and pricing structures of individual providers or vendors.
The system and method of the invention enables an event planner or organizer (also known as a “client”) who wishes to organize an event to contact, get quotes from, and contract with multiple vendors in a coordinated fashion. The multiple vendors may be from entirely different industries having different contracting practices, such as the above-mentioned caterers, musicians, and limousine drivers. The system and method of the invention accommodates different types of contracts and contract terms, while presenting the organizer a unified interface and method of payment, through the use of a unique “dynamic contract” protocol, payment distribution arrangement, and provision for participation or intervention by human “intermediaries” who recruit and negotiate with service providers or vendors, resolve disputes with clients, and perform management functions that in practice cannot be automated. Furthermore, the system and method of the invention provides vendors with increased flexibility in creating event packages by offering the customer lists of specific options that may be selected through the website. The customer is not limited to a fixed package selection with limited options but rather may, by way of example, build catering menus on an item-by-item basis while tracking costs for inclusion in a good faith estimate provided to the customer before booking.
In addition to providing an integrated event planning and managing system and method, the invention provides a hierarchical structure of locally-managed sites responsible to a central office that provides maximum flexibility and response to the needs of a particular community or area.
2. Description of Related Art
The method and system of the invention is intended to replace the traditional way of planning an event, in which the event planner or organizer must physically travel to individual contractors and/or phone, fax, and e-mail them to check availability and get quotes for the services required. These quotes must be manually reviewed and compared by event organizers in order to determine which vendors to select. After selecting one or more vendors, negotiations are carried out, contracts signed, and payment made to each individual vendor.
The process of planning an event thus requires the following steps carried out by the organizer of the event and individual vendors:
1. Organizer creates a plan
2. Organizer searches for vendors
3. Organizer contacts vendors
4. Vendors ask for organizer's requirements
5. Organizer provides information about event and his or her requirements
6. Vendors prepares and submits a proposal
7. Organizers repeats all the above again if he needs proposals from more vendors to compare
8. Organizer compares proposals received
9. Organizer negotiates with chosen Vendor
10. Vendors prepares contract/agreement
11. Organizer and vendor enter into contract
12. Organizer pays booking/signing amount to vendor for the event
To date, it has not been possible to provide a single portal through which all of these functions can be carried out, enabling recruitment of different vendors and giving the vendors the flexibility to set terms and price in accordance with different industry contracting standards, provide estimates and engage in offline negotiations, and/or take into account local rules and taxes, and so forth, while at the same time maximizing convenience for the event planner or organizer by enabling all search, selection, and contracting to be carried out through a single integrated portal. The invention provides a combination of vendor-side flexibility and customer-side integration that previous proposals for web-based event planning have not even considered.
It is of course well-known to automate planning of events such as vacations, or to arrange for shipments of goods, through the use of websites that provide prices for different vendors. However, the sites are only required to provide a few standard options common to all vendors, such as hotel room bed options or rental car classes, and a fixed pricing structure common to all vendors of a particular type. The standard travel portals such as Expedia™ or Orbitz™ do not enable customization on the vendor's part with respect to service options or contract terms, and therefore offer only limited choices to the consumer. This might be appropriate in the context of travel planning, but is not adequate to meet the more complex requirements of event planning.
U.S. Patent Publication No. 2002/0128934, on the other hand, purports to offer a more “integrated” event planning website that can be used to coordinate and plan a variety of “events,” such as weddings, parties, home improvement projects, and other “events” listed in paragraph [0170] on page 12. According to the description, the consumer submits a list of preferences to the “cybermediary,” which returns to the consumer a list of service templates that match the submitted criteria. The exemplary service template illustrated in FIG. 1F lists wedding packages by style, price, distance, food, and other criteria. According to one embodiment, summarized in paragraph [0228] on page 13, the vendor may modify the price of services based on demand.
However, the system disclosed in the '934 publication still lacks sufficient flexibility to provide useful event planning assistance. On the vendor side, no provision is made for recruiting different vendors, or for enabling the vendors to set terms other than price, to provide estimates and offline negotiations, or to adapt to different industry contracting standards, local taxes, and so forth. Perhaps more critically, there is no recognition that vendor recruiting and contracting is best done locally, requiring a hierarchical structure of locally-managed sites (by an intermediary or intermediary) responsible to a central office.
On the consumer side, a disadvantage of the system disclosed in the '934 publication is that preferences must be predetermined, rather than being presented as browsable options. The consumer can select vendors that meet pre-determined criteria, for example, but the consumer cannot select a vendor and then choose different options offered by the vendor, and the vendor cannot present the consumer with more than a fixed and limited set of options. There is no provision for food tasting, no limo pricing based on location, and so forth.
One of the ways that the present invention addresses this problem is through the use of the “dynamic contract,” which allows vendors to fill in contact terms within a form or template that also includes standard contract language designed to protect the interests of the portal or website operator as well as of specific industry standards for the vendor's industry. While the broad concept of an online template into which vendors fill in contract terms appears to be disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,064,981 (the '981 patent) and U.S. Pat. No. 6,463,419 (the '419 patent), these patents are limited to the context of cargo shipping/charters, and the forms are not adaptable for use in event planning.
Other patents and publications that may be of interest as background for the present invention include U.S. Patent Publication Nos. 2006/0041446, which discloses an “electronic arranger” for events including weddings, and U.S. Patent Publication No. 2004/0204966, which discloses funeral planning website as part of an overall “method of providing life insurance and funeral services.” Background on systems that provide interfaces between consumers and vendors is provided by U.S. Patent Publication Nos. 2002/0010685, 2002/0010685, and 2001/0037251. In addition, the Washington Post business section for Sunday, Jun. 11, 2006, includes an extensive description of existing web-based planning services. Although perhaps simplifying certain event planning tasks, however, none of these systems provides a comprehensive event planning service that provides all of the flexibility of conventional event planning methods listed above and enables vendors to customize the offerings presented and both pricing and contract terms presented to their clients, as well as efficient automation-assisted human management of all of these functions.